Monday, May 19, 2014

No matter how you pronounce it, it is expensive

The other day I made a list of things that needed to be done around our place and ran it past Tanya, suggesting Andrei could organize crews as necessary. One of the things on the list was a new roof on the house as this one is at least 25 years old. Andrei's contractor friend, also Andrey, came out that evening to have a look. Andrey climbed up on the north side and took a bunch of pictures. I wish I had them. The roof was in terrible condition with cracks and broken pieces all over it.

Asbestos roof on our outbuilding

In Soviet times, roofing was corrugated grey asbestos sheeting, maybe 10 mm thick. Every house and cottage had the same dull grey look with added dirt accumulated over the years. Our roof was no different. Our house has steel rafters 1.5 meters on centre, with wooden strapping to which the asbestos sheeting was spiked. I have no idea what is in the attic for insulation.

So we looked at roofing options. Andrey recommended Onduline which has been used here in Ukraine for about 10 years. It has a 15 year guarantee. For our 180 sq metre roof it would run about $5,000 including new strapping, insulation, gutters (eavestroughing) and labour. It does not have a smooth finish, more like the asbestos but comes in several colours. There are several examples in town which I looked at.

Second option was metal which is slightly more money but not enough to worry. It looks good on the roofs we saw including our neighbour's. But it was very flimsy; nothing like I was expecting which was like the metal cladding on a machine shed. 14 year guarantee. And noisy in a rainstorm.

This morning we looked up Onduline problems on the internet in both English and Russian and it was not good news. The 15 year guarantee was for water leakage only. There were problems with colour running, and every other bad thing you could think of.

My personal preference was to put a proper Canadian roof on it - OSB sheeting, and asphalt shingles. Andrei and Andrey showed up this afternoon and priced that out for us at roughly $10,000 (which had been my ballpark estimate a couple years ago). Long conversations back and forth including new asbestos sheeting. that is out as the stuff they make now is thin crap.

So it was back to Onduline for a couple minutes but Tanya never did like it so I guess it is metal after all. The 14 year guarantee is at least a guarantee. Tanya has more experience as a general contractor than I have. She built the house in the first place and also oversaw the renovations we did 7 years ago.

For comparison I looked back at our cost to get new shingles in 2012. We have 1450 sq ft (135 sq metre) house plus garage and cost $5300. Standard asphalt shingles would have been $4900 but we got the so-called 50 year shingles with fiberglass layer. I am not expecting 50 years but should be somewhat better life. I never priced a steel roof but my understanding here is that it is more than shingles. Here is an article I found http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/09/04/on-a-roof-metal-has-mettle/

Funny article had nothing in it about metal roofing, it was all about asphalt shingles. New shingles is one thing but we would have to build a new roof essentially. We were quoted about $16 per sq meter for 20 year asphalt. That is about $3000 which isn't a bad price but anything wood here incl OSB is relatively high priced for some strange reason. I don't know if it is high priced or if other stuff is just cheap.

Here in Queensland ribbed metal sheeting is probably the most common type of roofing material in mosts climates (it's called galvanised iron roofing but I don't honestly know what it's made from. There are lots of photos of the Australian version at https://www.google.com.au/search?q=galvanised+roofing+sheets&rlz=1C1GGGE_enAU437&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=mAF7U4GrHYzdkgWLr4D4Aw&ved=0CFgQ7Ak&biw=1002&bih=595). We have that on our house, which is at least 25 years old, and our roof has never even needed repainting. Of course, your winters are much tougher than ours. But then our summer sun is pretty brutal by comparison. Nowadays the sheets come colour-coated and probably never need repainting. But you're right, the roof can be noisy during violent rainstorms. We accept that as part of living in the subtropics. Of course, our attic space is insulated with thick sheets of some kind of fibreglass fabric, because the roof itself isn't very good at regulating temperature. The insulation also helps a bit with the noise. But I'd certainly prefer this to asbestos. If you were removing asbestos roofing from a building in this country, you'd need to engage a specialised team who would wear all kinds of protective gear, as the stray fibres from asbestos sheeting are a major health hazard. Old schools and other buildings have been closed around here because they contained various kinds of asbestos products, and I'm sure you know you need to be very careful when undertaking any renovations that include ripping up old sheets of asbestos.

Chartreuse, it depends on the gauge of the sheeting and I am not happy with how thin it is here. We will be putting fibreglass in the attic too, so I hope the noise isn't too bad. Asbestos is most dangerous during the mining process or when used as fluffy insulation. The sheets are hard as rock and unless you are cutting or drilling, are relatively safe.

In my opinion, you should continue to explore not only your options, but your array of materials when deciding on the apt roofing for your home. Something that can be good for everyone concerned in the long run. All the best!

Yikes! Spending is always a problem; however, you can think of it as an investment that is more than worth it, especially in the face of a rainy season. On the other hand, you can get around that kind of investment, and get one that doesn't demand as much adjustments and financial strains, but will have you a roof and a gutter that is more than your money's worth. All the best!

Re-roofing is an expensive scheme no matter how you put it. But regardless of the cost, it’s quite convenient to know that you wouldn't be worrying about any roofing woes at the moment. Anyway, I hope you found all the effort worth it. Have a nice day!

We have met the Enemy

Proud to be Ukrainian

About Me

Father, husband, agricultural consultant, beef cattle specialist, dog owner, reluctant gardener, amateur photographer, history buff and wandering soul who has at last found home and happiness in Ukraine. Fully registered as a permanent resident, who unfortunately looks like his passport picture, I am here for the foreseeable future, having married the “only woman in Ukraine who does not want to move to Canada”. I do miss my kids terribly, though Tanya’s family including two granddaughters make up for it somewhat.